From the hotel, we walk to the Fondamente Nuove via the Jewish ghetto, where we will have breakfast and dinner. Here we take the boat that passes Isola di S. Michele, Murano and Burano to finally arrive at the island of Torcello. You have probably heard quite a bit about this unique island in class. It had much greater importance in the 11th century and was home to more people than Venice. After disembarking, we will walk along the canal to the church.

The cathedral Santa Maria Assunta (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) dates from the 7th century but was rebuilt in the 9th and 11th century. The original church had only three naves and just one round apse (two more were added later). In other words, a typical early Christian Roman basilica that can also be found in Grado and Ravenna. Not much remains of the 7th century baptistery, just the circumference of the wall and a few bases of columns. The original baptistery (eight columns and a dome) was located at the front of the cathedral (click here for the floor plans of Santa Maria Assunta and Santa Fosca).

The baptistery was for the most part based on the Lateran baptistery in Rome. An inscription was discovered during the 1895 restoration of Santa Maria Assunta. It showed that the church was dedicated to Mary and founded during the reign of emperor Heraclius. Isac, the patriarch of Ravenna, had commissioned its construction in 639. The floorplan has for the most part been preserved, and yet there is little visual evidence of the original materials. The wall of the central apse and the lower part of the entrance wall date from the 7th century.

The original floor lies beneath the present one. In 1929, the original altar was discovered during excavations and restored to its original location. The church was renovated in 864 under Bishop Adeodato, as stated in the chronicles of John the Deacon. The two side apses and the crypt were built after 864 and the outer wall probably also dates from this period. Santa Maria Assunta acquired its current exterior in 1008 under bishop Orso Orseolo, who later became doge. The floor was raised during this period. Windows were added to the upper part of the south wall, adding one clerestory to the nave. These upper windows in the south wall still have the original stone hinges that the wooden shutters are attached to. The arches of the colonnade are the stone arches from the 11th century. Two capitals on the right hand side of the nave were reused.

Unfortunately, entire sections of the mosaics were removed in the 19th century and replaced with copies. When leaving the church, the visitor was subtly reminded to remember the Day of Judgement. Very few could read, but the images, arranged like a comic strip, were all too well understood.

The resurrection of the dead, the angel weighing the souls, but mostly the horrible events in hell must have made lasting impressions on the churchgoers. All the more so as images were relatively rare during the Middle Ages.

Only limited numbers of believers ever met in Santa Fosca, so a small central-plan church was the most suitable construction type. The Roman model was probably copied from Santa Stefano. And yet, Santa Fosca shows Byzantine influences just like Galla Placida in Ravenna, which, just like this church, has a Greek Cross as its floor plan. The church is crowned by a round dome. A Greek cross with a dome is one of the most important characteristics of Byzantine architecture. The most famous example of which is the Hagia Sophia, built in the early 6th century. The domed Greek cross also became a dominant theme of Venetian architecture. The builders of Santa Fosca obviously also wanted a dome, but the construction was not all that strong, which is why they built a wooden dome that was raised on the outside: a safe and cheap solution.

The portico around Santa Fosca dates from the 12th century. In the portico, the Greek cross changes into an octagonal with five bays on each side and three on the diagonal sides. The portico’s alternation of round and polygonal columns is a nice variation. And the arches have been substantially lengthened compared to the interior of Santa Fosca. The portico has a clear vertical accent which directs the eye to the construction elements above. The whole appears to be a complicated mass of various construction elements with a climactic centre that nevertheless is in perfect harmony. This is a characteristic of 6th century Byzantine architecture that can also be found in Ravenna, for example in San Vitale.

portico Santa Fosca
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pictures: forgia1

We will take a walk around this little church. The exterior at the rear, the east side, near the apse consists of simple bricks, albeit richly decorated. The dogtooth pattern is often used in early Christian Veneto-Byzantine churches, although rarely on the outside as is the case with Santa Fosca. The combination of red brick and white marble was quite common and often used in Venetian architecture. San Marco looked like that in 11th century, prior to the large-scale decoration programme that lasted several centuries. Santa Fosca is an early and important example of Byzantine architecture in the lagoon.

The trip back from Torcello via the Canal Grande. The Canal Grande originally was a meandering river carving out a path in the marshy lagoon. It always was the most important connection and still is extremely busy today.

The canal is four kilometres long, between 30 and 70 meters wide and five metres deep. Three bridges cross the Canal Grande, the most famous of which is the Rialto bridge with its shops. Most of the palaces facing the Canal Grande are 500 years old. It was a very popular and very expensive place to build, which is why most of the houses facing are rightfully called palazzi.

Standing in the boat, you can perfectly read the architectural history from the facades along the Canal Grande. We will take a closer look at several of the palazzi facing the Canal Grande in the architecture programme, albeit from jetties and narrow dead-end alleyways.

Palazzi along the Grand Canal Venice

The chronological order below is unfortunately not the route that we are taking. For the itinerary please read the bold numbers in brackets. We first pass number 1, etc. The typical 13th century Veneto-Byzantine style can for instance be seen in the Ca da Mosto (more specifically the ground floor; photo: dvdbramhall) one of the oldest palazzi on the canal. The same applies to the 13th century Fondaco dei Turchi which will soon appear on our starboard side.